The True Jihad
Non-Violence and Islam
~ 68 ~
principle of non-violence throughout his 23-year
prophetic career, except for one and a half days.
The Islamic method, being based totally on the
principle of non-violence, makes it unlawful for
believers to initiate hostilities. Except in cases where
self-defence has become inevitable, the Qur’an in no
circumstance gives permission for violence.
THE MODERN AGE AND NON-VIOLENCE
The greatest problem facing Islam today is, as I see
it, that Muslims have almost totally forgotten the
sunnah
(Prophet’s way) of non-violence. In later
times when the Ottoman and Mughal empires
disintegrated and problems like that of Palestine
have had to be confronted by the faithful, Muslims
all over the world have fallen a prey to negative
reaction on a colossal scale; they have failed to
remember that the policy of Islam is not that of
violence but of non-violence. It is the result of this
deviation, that despite almost a 100-years of bloody
wars, Muslims have achieved no positive gain.
Rather whatever they already had has been lost by
them.
